Rosacea is a dermatological syndrome affecting approximately 14 million Americans. It is characterized by flushing of the skin, erythema, inflammatory papules and pustules, edema, telangiectasia, ocular symptoms and rhinophyma. To date, the etiology of rosacea is unknown and there is no clearly recognized cure (Bikowski and Goldman, 2004; Stone and Chodosh, 2004).
Four subtypes and one variation of rosacea have been defined. The subtypes are papulopustular rosacea, erythematotelangiectatic rosacea, phymatous rosacea, and ocular rosacea; the rosacea variation is granulomatous rosacea. Some patients may have features of more than one subtype simultaneously, and differences in severity occur within each subtype.
Management of rosacea is difficult because of the complexity of the syndrome and the sensitivity of rosacea-affected skin. Various therapies, including topical application of metronidazole, azelaic acid, sodium sulfacetamide/sulfur preparations, and antibiotics including erythromycin, clindamycin and tetracycline, are used in the management of rosacea with varying rates of success. Systemic therapy with oral tetracyclines, metronidazole and isotretinoin is also employed in the management of rosacea (Buechner, 2005). Dapsone antibiotic is effective for treating rosacea redness, facial flushing, papules and pustules when administered orally; however, the side effect profile makes the risk/benefit ratio too high for most rosacea sufferers (Nase, 2005).
What is needed are safe, effective treatments for the management of rosacea symptoms.